Chapter Nineteen
W ell, that hadn’t gone as we’d hoped it would.
I blow out a breath as I watch Lila stumble across the sand toward the parking lot.
Behind me, Ty’s sobs fill the air. My hands fist at my sides as I tear my eyes away from the woman I’ve wanted for the last ten years to one of the men I’ve loved even longer than that. Carter wraps his arms around the other man, eyes darting up to glance between me and Oliver.
The desperation and the fear in his eyes are the same exact feelings coursing through me.
I don’t know how much Ty can take until he just gives up.
Fuck.
I can’t lose him and Lila. We have to figure out a way to get her to listen. For Ty’s sake, at least.
I just don’t know how to make her listen .
It had been Ty’s idea to follow her when she left her house and then to join her for her swim. In the ocean, everything felt so right with her at our side. It was everything we should’ve had—everything we could have if she would just hear us out.
“Shit, she just drove off,” Oliver grumbles. “She shouldn’t be driving in that condition.”
Ty’s head jerks up. “We need to follow her.”
Carter makes a face. “I don’t know, Ty. We already stalked her from her house to here. She says she isn’t ready to hear us out. If she realizes we’re following her, she might call the cops.”
“Carter, she’s upset! She could hurt herself or someone else. We just need to follow her home to make sure she’s okay. That’s it.” Ty pulls away, grabs the pants he’d dropped back into the sand, and yanks them on. He heads for the car, leaving his shirt and shoes in the sand.
“Ty, wait,” Carter calls after him, cursing to himself as he dips down to grab the rest of Ty’s clothes before sprinting after him.
Grabbing my shirt and shoes, plus Carter’s, Oliver and I hurry to keep up with them.
When Ty heads for the driver’s side door, Carter grabs his arm. “You’re not in any condition to drive either. Take the passenger seat, and I’ll drive.”
Ty looks like he wants to argue but takes his clothing from Carter and heads around the car. I toss him his shirt and shoes before climbing into the back with Oliver.
“Seat belts,” Carter calls out as he backs out of the spot and heads back to the road. We’re not too far behind Lila, but I can’t see her car as we merge onto the road.
When Carter glances in the rearview mirror, giving me a pointed look, I roll my eyes before putting on my seatbelt.
“Yes, Dad,” I mumble, but he definitely hears me as he makes a face.
“Can you go faster, please?” Ty asks, hand shooting across the center console to grasp Carter’s knee.
Carter sighs before speeding up just a bit. “It won’t do us any good if we get into an accident trying to catch up with her. The roads are wet from the rain.”
“It’s okay, Ty. Carter will catch up.” Oliver reaches around the seat to grab Ty’s shoulders, fingers massaging his tense muscles.
Ty’s head falls forward as a moan spills from his lips. “That’s nice. ”
Turning my attention to Oliver, I shoot him a quick smile that he returns. Ty hasn’t wanted us to even touch him lately. That he’s letting Oliver massage his shoulders is fucking fantastic.
A blaring horn cuts through the silence, our heads snapping up as we take a corner just in time to see Lila’s car jerk out of the opposite lane before spinning out.
“No!” Ty screams, leaning forward as her car crashes into a tree.
My seat belt is off before Carter pulls off onto the side of the road. Oliver has his phone out, already calling for emergency services, when I throw my door open and run for Lila’s car. Carter yells at me about not waiting until the car is stopped, but I ignore him as I hear their doors open and close.
Reaching the car, I realize she was able to turn the car enough to only hit it with the passenger side. It could’ve been so much worse if she’d hit the tree head-on. I wrench open the door, growling at the sight before me. The windshield is shattered, glass covering the entire front seat and Lila. The airbag deployed—probably saving her life since she isn’t wearing a fucking seat belt. She’s covered in cuts, blood gushing from her face, hands, and torso as she’s bent over sideways across the center console.
There’s so much fucking blood.
My heart is beating so loudly. I swear I can hear it in my ears.
She has to be okay. She has to.
I lean into the car, intent on pulling her bent body from the destruction inside the car, but pull up short when Oliver’s voice rings out.
“They said not to move her in case of a spinal injury!” He and the others crowd around me to peer into the car.
“Is she even breathing?” Ty asks, voice quiet, and I want to hit myself for not checking sooner.
Leaning over and into the car once more, I press my fingers to her neck as carefully as I can. My heart stutters when I don’t feel a pulse.
I need to calm the fuck down.
Taking a deep breath, I move my fingers across her neck until I can feel her pulse beating, slow and sluggish.
I exhale as I move my hand beneath her nose, trying to avoid the blood gushing from it.
I swear my heart stops beating then, only restarting when I feel the faintest bit of air escape her nose .
“She has a pulse, and she’s breathing,” I tell them as I slide back out of the car, Oliver relaying the information to the person on the phone.
Sirens fill the air, relief rushing through me at their response time.
She has to be okay.
There’s no other outcome that I’ll accept.
“Is she okay?” an unfamiliar voice asks, and I glance over to find a man in his fifties standing there. “She pulled into my lane, so I blared the horn. It took me a while to find a place where I could stop and park my truck.”
“You’re the truck driver?” Carter asks, and he nods.
Before any of us can say anything else, an ambulance comes to a stop in the road beside us before two EMTs appear, nudging us out of the way.
Two cop cars and a fire truck pull up moments later. One of the cops speaks to us, but I can’t make out his words as my eyes stay locked on the car where Lila is likely fighting for her life. It takes three firefighters and the cop to push us away from the car.
“I need to know what happened. I can tell you’re worried about the girl, but I need you to focus on me.” The cop’s words finally seem to sink into me, and I face him.
“I think they’re in shock,” the truck driver says, a look of sympathy on his face. “I can tell you what happened from my side of things, but I think they’re the only ones who witnessed the accident.”
I turn my attention back to the car as the paramedics pull Lila from the car and place her onto a backboard. They check her over before loading her into the ambulance and jumping inside.
“We have to go,” I cut off Carter from whatever he was saying to the cop. “They’re leaving with Lila.”
The cop glances over his shoulder to watch the ambulance drive away. “This should only take another … “ Whatever he sees on our faces has him trailing off.
“Let them go. They clearly care about the girl. You’re going to have to go to the hospital to see if you can speak with her anyway,” one of the firefighters tells him, slapping a hand on the cop’s shoulder.
He nods slowly as he pulls out a card and hands it to Carter. “I’ll meet you at the hospital, but here’s my number, just in case. ”
“Thank you,” Ty says quickly, already running back to the car. The three of us follow him and then we’re heading toward the hospital.
It’s the longest fifteen-minute drive of my life. As soon as Carter pulls into a parking space, we’re all rushing inside and to the desk in the emergency room.
The woman sitting behind it looks up with wide eyes as my palms slap down onto the desk harder than I meant for them to. “Gentlemen, what can I do for you?”
“Our friend, Lila Riley, was just in an accident. We saw it happen. The ambulance left before us,” Ty pants out, halfway to hyperventilating.
The woman nods slowly, typing something on her computer before looking up. “It looks like they arrived a few minutes ago. A doctor is with her now and her family has been notified. If you want to have a seat in the waiting room, we won’t be able to give information to anyone but her family, but you’ll be able to see them as soon as they arrive.”
I bite my cheek to keep from growling at the woman that we need more information than that, but it won’t do me any good.
“Come on, Ty.” I throw my arm around his shoulders and lead him over to a row of hard plastic seats that look anything but comfortable. Ty’s body is shaking as he clings to me.
How much more can he deal with? Will this be the straw that breaks the camel’s back?
If Lila isn’t okay, we’ll not only lose her but Tyler too.
All I can do is hold him against me as we sit and wait.
I’m not paying attention to what’s going on around me as I lose myself in my thoughts, so I’m surprised when someone stops in front of us with her hands on her hips.
“What the hell are the four of you doing here?”
Glancing up, I find Lila's mom glaring down at us.
“Uhhh … ”
“Mrs. Riley, we saw the accident. We wanted to make sure she’s alright,” Oliver offers as he stands.
She focuses her glare on him, and he holds up his hands in surrender. “She wouldn’t want you here.”
“Sylvia!” My head jerks to the side, finding Wyatt rushing over. “How is she? ”
Sylvia seems to collapse in on herself as she starts sobbing. Her husband and Miguel rush over, holding her between them.
Miguel murmurs something before stepping back and allowing Lila's dad to lead her mom away from us. He watches them, sadness radiating from him before he turns back to us with a stern expression.
“We don’t know much. They’ve rushed Lila back to surgery. She has some internal injuries that they’re worried about. On top of that, she broke her leg. They won’t be able to tell us much more until they get her out of surgery.” Miguel sighs, rubbing his head. “The four of you need to go. You’re upsetting her parents, and I can’t allow that.”
“We just want to—“ Carter pushes to his feet, ready to face off with his cousin.
“No,” Miguel growls with a shake of his head. “I don’t care what you want. The child of the man and woman I love is back there fighting for her life, and all you’re doing is causing more pain. You will leave now, and I’ll call you when I know anything.”
Carter looks like he wants to argue, only snapping his mouth closed when Wyatt’s hand lands on his shoulder .
“Go be with Brandon and Sylvia, Miguel. I’ll have a chat with these four and then I’ll join you.”
Miguel glares at the four of us before storming off, leaving us alone with Wyatt.
“Tell me what the fuck happened and how you knew she was injured.” The incubus’s eyes flash as he turns his attention to us. “And don’t leave a damn thing out.”
Carter collapses into his chair before filling Wyatt in on what happened. Halfway through the explanation, Wyatt crashes into a chair across from us, laying his head in his hands.
When Carter finishes, Wyatt doesn’t speak right away. Finally, he lifts his head to glance between us. “Look, it’s clear how much you care for Lila, but Sylvia and Miguel are right. You need to leave. I promise to keep you all updated, but this is too much right now. Sylvia was right—Lila wouldn’t want you here.”
I want to argue with him, but he’s right. All we’re doing is causing trouble here.
“Of course,” Ty assures him, leaning forward to hand Wyatt his phone. “Put your number in and text yourself so you have my number. We appreciate you being willing to do this for us.”
“I don’t think you’re bad guys, but Lila is, and will always be, my number one priority. I think she needs to hear you out, but I can’t force her to do that,” Wyatt says as he hands Ty back his phone. “Just give everyone some time.”
Carter clears his throat. “Of course. Thank you.”
The four of us leave the hospital with our heads down and hearts broken.
She has to be okay.